Femtosecond dynamics of cyclopropenylidene, c-C3H2

The photophysics of the B (1)B(1) state of isolated cyclopropenylidene, c-C(3)H(2), has been studied by femtosecond time-resolved photoionisation and photoelectron spectroscopy. The carbene was produced by flash pyrolysis of 3-chlorocycloprop-1-ene. The bands at 266.9 nm and 264.6 nm have been investigated. The excited state deactivates in a two step process. The first time constant of less than 50 fs corresponds most likely to a nonradiative transition to the A-state, the second one on the order of 200 fs describes the internal conversion to the electronic ground state. The data are compared to those measured for the chlorinated carbene c-C(3)HCl. In the photoelectron spectrum of c-C(3)H(2) resonances were observed which can be assigned to members of a Rydberg d-series.     

Transformations of matricial α-Stieltjes non-negative definite sequences

We investigate the inner structure of power moment sequences of matrix measures on the right semiaxis [α,+∞)$[\alpha ,+\infty )$, where α is a given real number. To a given matrix sequence, we associate in a bijective way a new sequence of matrices, which we call the right α  -Stieltjes parametrization. Thereby, one-to-one correspondences between power moment sequences on the right semiaxis [α,+∞)$[\alpha ,+\infty )$ with additional properties and particular sequences of non-negative Hermitian matrices are established. We consider distinguished transformations of matrix sequences the study of which was suggested by considering some natural transformations of matrix measures on an interval. A main theme is to describe the right α-Stieltjes parametrization of the transformed sequence in terms of the right α-Stieltjes parametrization of the original sequence.     

Direct determination of the magnetic quadrupole contribution to the Lyman-α₁ transition in a hydrogenlike ion

We report the observation of an interference between the electric dipole (E1) and the magnetic quadrupole (M2) amplitudes for the linear polarization of the Ly-α1 (2p3/2→1s1/2) radiation of hydrogenlike uranium. This multipole mixing arises from the coupling of the ion to different multipole components of the radiation field. Our observation indicates a significant depolarization of the Ly-α1 radiation due to the E1-M2 amplitude mixing. It proves that a combined measurement of the linear polarization and of the angular distribution enables a very precise determination of the ratio of the E1 and the M2 transition amplitudes and the corresponding transition rates without any assumptions concerning the population mechanism for the 2p3/2 state.     

Polarization correlation in the two-photon decay of atomic hydrogen: nonlocality versus entanglement

From the work by Perrie et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 54, 1790 (1985)], photon pairs from the 2s _1/2 → 1s _1/2 (two-photon) decay of atomic hydrogen are known to be quantum mechanically correlated. In these experiments, the polarization states of the photons emitted in back-to-back geometry were shown to violate the Bell inequality as a qualitative sign of nonlocality and entanglement. In the present contribution, we analyze how these nonlocal quantum correlations, as given by the violation of the Bell inequality, differ from the concurrence as a true entanglement measure. Results are shown for both quantifiers in dependence of the decay geometry and the initial polarization of the atoms for the 2s _1/2 → 1s _1/2 and 3d _5/2 → 1s _1/2 two-photon decay of atomic hydrogen. These results display the difference between nonlocality and entanglement and, hence, may stimulate further experiments on nonlocal quantum correlations in atomic systems.     

Performance analysis of dispersion compensating optical FIR filters designed using a quasi-analytic synthesis approach

In this paper we investigate the performance of a quasi-analytic synthesis approach for dispersion compensating optical finite impulse response filters. It is shown by eye opening penalty and optical signal to noise ratio penalty calculations that with this method the filters dispersion can be adjusted reliably and with low effort to compensate for a specific amount of residual chromatic dispersion in optical transmission systems. The maximum attainable dispersion is then only limited by the filter order and the free spectral range rather then by optimization problems within the filter design.     

Development of new classes of plasmon active nano-structures and their application in bio-sensing and energy guiding

Metal nanostructures exhibit special optical resonance modes originating fronl tile subwavelengt.h confinement of conductive electrons in the material. These resonance modes represent a strong research focus due to their application potential in optics and sensing application, in this short review recent achievements of our group in this field are highlighted. A wet-chemistry approach synthesis of advanced metallic nanostruetures will be introduced and their exact positioning and manipulation by electric field is shown. Next. the application of these nanostructures for a detection of small molecules will be described in several examples. Also, it will be shown that inetal nanostruetures can be used for sub-wavelength light focusing and for efficient energy coupling into polymer chains.     

Quantum diffusion of a light particle in the Meissner phase of a superconductor

The influence of a superconducting fermionic environment on quantum diffusion is investigated. Within the framework of a two-state model hopping rates are calculated both for the biased and unbiased case. As for the latter, the jump frequency shows towards lower temperatures an exponential increase caused by the dyingout of quasiparticle excitations. The calculated rates show a much stronger sensitivity on bias than in the normal state. For small bias (compared to the energy gap) they behave non-monotonically: below a certain temperature an exponential decrease is found which leads to a localization of the particle. For large bias the hopping rates are not substantially changed by the onset of superconductivity.